Sport Description

Biathlon was first introduced in the 1988 Paralympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. The shooting system has changed considerably since then when, at the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, a new electronic and acoustic system was developed.

In both biathlon and cross-country skiing, athletes are categorized as standing, sitting or visually impaired and compete against athletes with similar disabilities. Visually impaired skiers use the same equipment as able-bodied skiers but ski with a guide. Standing skiers are skiers with a locomotive disability and who are able to use the same equipment as able-bodied skiers. Sit-skiers usually have no use of their legs (paraplegic) and use a special made sit-ski (a specially built chair attached to a pair of skis).

How It Works

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting similar to the Olympic biathlon competitions. Paralympic athletes, however, always shoot in a prone position.

In the short distance biathlon, skiers race a 2.5-kilometre loop three times stopping twice at the shooting range where they take five shots at a metal target 10 metres away. Each target has five plates, fixed in a straight row, which the athlete must hit the middle (bull’s eye) of. The bull’s eye is 15 mm in diameter and if a competitor misses a plate, they must ski a 150 m penalty loop for each missed shot. Visually impaired skiers use an acoustic system for shooting that uses differing tones as the rifle is aimed toward the bull’s eye.

In long-distance biathlon, competitors ski the loop five times and stop four times at the shooting range. Missing a target plate can be costly: for every miss, a competitor receives a one minute time penalty that is added to their overall skiing time.

Biathlon races comprise an interval start format with skiers starting every 30 seconds. The International Paralympic Committee utilizes a Nordic Percentage System in order to equalize the disability time handicap for skiers within each category. The percentage is applied to each skier’s final time and the skier with the lowest calculated time is the winner.

For more information on biathlon (Paralympic), please visit the IPC's website.